Fantasy Football Week 3: Positional Power Rankings

As the football season progresses, the quarterback controversies are increasing. Despite only being in the second week of the season we have already seen a playoff contender switch its starting quarterbacks. In fact it is way to early to tell who the definite top-five at each position are. There was a quarterback carousel in the NFL this week, and so there is one in the top-five quarterback rankings.

Some of each position’s best (at least predicted so before the season) aren’t even in the top-five. But let’s take a look at the pecking order after Week 2 in the NFL. Consistency is the key word this week, as we will begin to see who is for real, and who is just playing around.

Fantasy Football Kickers (Week 3)

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Kickers

1(3) Neil Rackers, Houston Texans: That offense is going to continuously put him in position to score. (1 30-39, 2 40-49, 3/3 XP)

2(2) Mason Crosby, Green Bay Packers: The Packer’s offense is starting to pick it up, but slow starts like last week means that they will rely on Crosby’s foot every now and then. (1 20-29, 1 40-49, 4/4 XP)

3(N/R) Mike Nugent, Cincinnati Bengals: Despite having what should be a high flying offense, the Bengals just can’t seem to get in the endzone. (1 20-29, 3 30-39, 1 40-49)

4(4) Nick Folk, New York Jets: The Jets seem to have clicked on offense, but if last week was a fluke, they have fairly reliable kicker. (1 30-39, 1 40-49, 2/2 XP)

5(N/R) Jeff Reed, Pittsburgh Steelers: The defense will get the Steelers’ offense on the field regularly, and the quarterback situation in Pittsburgh will keep Reed on the field regularly. (2 20-29, 2 30-39, 1/1 XP)

Fantasy Football Defense/Special Teams (Week 3)

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Defenses

1(4) Pittsburgh Steelers: The defense is playing with a serious chip on their shoulders after being called “too old”, “reliant on Polamalu” and a bevy of other terms. They showed they are back with a vengeance after their hard hitting game in Nashville. And don’t be too surprised by Antonio Brown taking kicks to the house, the Steelers love his play making ability and he will continue to get his chances. (11 PA, 3 int, 4 fr, 4 sack, 1 ktd)

2(N/R) Tampa Bay Buccaneers: The defense is starting to look like the kind were used to in Tampa. They also will have a fairly easy schedule ahead of them in the coming weeks. (7 PA, 2 int, 1 fr, 4 sack)

3(3) New York Jets: Maybe there is one part of that team that people aren’t calling over-rated. (14 PA, 2 int, 1 fr, 1 sack)

4(N/R) Miami Dolphins: Brett Favre may not be as good as last year’s version, but this is two weeks in a row with decent production. (10 PA, 3 int, 1 fr, 3 sack, 1td)

5(5) New Orleans Saints: The Saint’s continue to rely on forcing turnovers, but letting up over 20 pts a game wont cut it if the offense isn’t putting up 40 per game last year. (22 PA, 2 int, 2 fr, 1 sfty)

Fantasy Football Tight Ends (Week 3)

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Tight Ends

1(2) Antonio Gates, San Diego Chargers: No matter how many defenders opposing defenses put on Gates, he still seems to come down with the touchdown. Vincent Jackson won’t be back anytime soon, so Gates should continue to be Philip Rivers’ favorite target. (5 rec, 57 yds, 2 td, 8 tar)

3(5) Chris Cooley, Washington Redskins: Cooley continues to make me look good (I called it). He remains McNabb’s favorite target when the defense is barreling down on him, and his schedule ahead of him is easy for his position. (3 rec, 64 yds, 1 td, 3 tar)

4(4) Vernon Davis, San Francisco 49ers: If the last second 2pt conversion showed us anything, it was the faith the entire Niners offense has in Vernon Davis. (4 rec, 78 yds, 7 tar, 1 2pc)

Fantasy Football Wide Receivers (Week 3)

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Wide Receivers

1(1) Miles Austin, Dallas Cowboys: Austin may be the only stable part of the entire Cowboys’ team. A continuous double digit catch total is going to be standard, so should be about 100 yards receiving. Austin owners, at least not the ones that are actual Cowboys fans, will like the fact that the Cowboys are struggling to win games because it means they will throw the ball late. (10 rec, 142 yds, 15 tar)

2(2) Reggie Wayne, Indianapolis Colts: I’m not even sure what to say here. He is one of the most stable receivers, with one fo the most stable quarter backs on one of the most stable offenses. Number’s like these should continue as long as Wayne is running routes for Peyton. (7 rec, 96 yds, 1 td, 9 tar)

3(N/R) Andre Johnson, Houston Texans: Johnson is a freak of nature athlete and it was on display in Washington. His production will always be the best on the team, as long as the Texans’ run game doesn’t win them ball games too early on. (12 rec, 158 yds, 1 td, 17 rec)

4(5) Roddy White, Atlanta Falcons: Roddy continues to see the most targets, even when his team is dominating. There was really no need for the Falcon’s to throw the ball late in the game, yet White ended the week with comparable targets to some of the week’s best. (7 rec, 78 yds, 1 td, 12 tar)

5(N/R) Steve Smith, Carolina Panthers: Smith is consistent, we will say that. You can tell that the quarterback situation is a rough one when the team’s best receiving threat was thrown to eight times but could only come down with three. Still, the Panthers’ running game is lacking, and Smith remains the best red zone target. Let’s see if the production keeps up with Jimmy Clausen under center. (3 rec, 66 yds, 1 td, 8 tar)

1(2) Arian Foster, Houston Texans: It would have been amazing if Foster had repeated last week’s breakout performance, but this week he was no slouch either. When Foster couldn’t get it going on the ground, he became a viable option as a receiver out of the backfield. Add a touchdown to that performance and Foster would undoubtedly be Fantasy’s best. (19 car, 69 yds, 3 rec, 69 yds, 4 tar)

2(5) Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings: Now this performance is the more like Peterson. The Vikings are struggling on offense with nearly all of their receivers hurt, and they will again start to rely on their best offensive weapon. Too bad for AP owner’s that the Dolphins goal line defense was solid, otherwise AP could’ve had at least one more touchdown. (28 car, 145 yds, 1 td, 5 car, 41 yds, 8 tar)

3(N/R) Jahvid Best, Detroit Lions: I was a doubter at the beginning of the season, at least based on his ADP, but Best is becoming what LeSean McCoy shouldv’e been last year. The Lions defense is better, and the offense is sharp. Best could be one of the best fantasy options so far this year. (17 car, 78 yds, 2 td, 9 rec, 154 yds, 1 td, 14 tar)

4(4) Matt Forte, Chicago Bears: You don’t always need a ton of rushing yards to be a good fantasy running back, as Forte has shown. Mike Martz’ offense played right in to Marshall Faulk’s skill set in the late 90’s and now it’s working again for Forte in the ‘10s/ (10 car, 29 yds, 5 rec, 37 yds, 1 td, 6 tar)

5(1) Chris Johnson, Tennessee Titans: To his own defense, the Steelers defense is very good. But if you wan’t to talk yourself up before the season like Johnson did, your going to have to back it up. Still, Johnson can’t leave the top-five, at least not until he has another performance like last week. (16 car, 34 yds, 5 rec, 19 yds, 6 tar, 1 fum)

Fantasy Football 2010 Positional Power Rankings Quarterbacks (Week 3)

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Quarterbacks

1(1) Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts: Just another prototypical Peyton Manning week. The yardage is a bit down from last week, but that may be more thanks to his brother Eli’s lackluster offense playing counter to his. (20/26, 255 yds, 3 td, -3 rush yds)

2(3) Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers: I know he had two interceptions, but his three touchdowns and over 300 yards passing make up for that in fantasy. He is starting to take a few lesson’s from the games’ best by spreading the ball around to different receivers. If the Chargers are lacking a running game now too, you could expect over 30 pass attempts per game. (22/29, 334 yds, 3 td, 2 int)

3(N/R) Jay Cutler, Chicago Bears: The Mike Martz offense has been working pretty well for Cutler so far. He is in the top0five total fantasy points for quarterbacks ... and didn’t throw an interception last week! Let’s see how long that stretch runs for. (21/29, 277 yards, 3 td, 3 rush yds)

4(N/R) Michael Vick, Philadelphia Eagles: He gets the nod in Philly, and he will get the nod over some of the game’s best here. His dynamic play making ability was great for fantasy owners when he was a Falcon, and now Vick is a better passer too. (21/34, 284 yds, 2 td, 37 rush yds)

5(N/R) Matt Schaub, Houston Texans: Schaub had nearly 500 passing yards when the run wasn’t working for Houston. Schaub should be a top-five quarterback by the end of the season, but that will depend on how much the team relies on their running backs in the future. (38/52, 497 yds, 3 td, 1 int, 2 rush yds)